Since itās 2024, I think itās about time for my yearly PSA:
Hey, Hi š in case it isnāt obvious, this is a Duke Thomas resource/archive blog, dedicated to raising awareness for Duke! Iāve got all sorts of great resources linked in my pinned post, including a Reading Rec list, FAQ, and info about our annual Duke Week! (& so much more!)
I want to especially encourage my followers to reblog this to help spread the word. Iām seeing more and more posts in Dukeās tag that are completely missing the mark when it comes to understanding Duke. One on hand, itās great news bc that means more people are at least aware of duke (yaaaay)! On the other, it means heās being subjected to fanon flanderization (boooo).
I want to encourage yāall because those kinds of posts are exactly why I made this blog in the first place. Duke is by FAR the easiest batfam member to read for. Iāve also curated a lot of great meta on him over the years & im always looking forward to adding more! Give this blog a follow, shoot me an ask, letās learn more about Duke in 2024!!!
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People who really like shuake also seem to write themselves into a corner wrt Akechi and his relationship to Akiras team. Contrary to popular belief, the team, including Haru, does not hate Akechi. At worst, they tolerate him and deal with his attitude. Hes a good teammate and respectable fighter and the team recognizes that at the end of the day, he was a teenager who was manipulated and abused by a man who saw him as disposable. Just about every thief understands this intimately. They have the same mindset wrt adults who take advantage of the people beneath them. Under different circumstances they wouldve been friends. And if u approach it from that angle, it becomes less about Akechi being the sole person who āgetsā Akira, and more about the thieves being the only people in the world who āgetā Akechi.
When you expand your thoughts to include the thieves as members of his Team and not roadblocks that get in the way of your ideal shipping dynamic, you allow urself to give Akechi and Akira more depth and nuance to their own relationship.
Akira and Akechi are wildcards; both of them struggle with the face they choose to display to the world. Its the first time Akira interacts with someone who is, at a literal, technical level, his āequalā. But Akechi is one of many firsts for Akira yeah? Every thief has their bond with Akira thats completely unique and personal. Akechi will never be the person who witnesses Akiras Awakening, hes never the person who watches Akira have his restless nights alone in the attic, and hes never the person who realizes in real time that the teenager hes housing is just Some Kid, not the delinquent hes been warned about. Hes not Ann or Yusuke, or any of the thieves; he doesnt have the time or experience that they have with Akira, and I think its interesting to explore that part of their relationship, shippy or not.
Akechi is someone who is incredibly lonely and self depreciating despite his cockiness and attitude. He has no positive bonds to speak of save for his connection with Sae. To have him see a team that works together and cares for each other, how do you think he would feel? Out of place? Inferior in some way? Angry about how hes been alone for so long in this single minded quest for revenge? Wouldnt that be a point of struggle between the two of them? I think what makes shuake good for me is knowing that Akechi needs alot of time to heal, and the thieves would want to help with that process. They do it bc they care, bc Akira cares, and bc they trust Akiras opinion (and he trusts theirs in return); if Akira feels like Akechi is someone who can be trusted Now after everything thats happened, then the thieves would do their best to help. And how would Akechi feel about that? Angry about the show of pity? That even now, he has no real say in what happens to him? Or begrudgingly grateful that they are cordial with him? Because they do care, he KNOWS they care, they care TOO MUCH actually; but the one thing he values over brawn and wits is honesty- fighting for what you believe in without having to use soft words to justify it.
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about simonās social media plotline
instead of deleting it, why didnāt simon just temporarily deactivate his instagram/make a private account?
all season, simon has been trying to find workarounds to his worsening situation when it comes to outside pressures and an increasingly stifling environment. he tries to find ways to still be himself and have some sense of freedom, even with all the criticism and negativity being hurled his way.
heās hit with a barrage of hate comments everywhere? fine. heāll reply to some of them, just to make sure that everyone gets a sense of who he really is. but he soon finds that when he does so, heās only met with even more hatred and people coming for his throat. and wille himself tells him replying will only make things worse, so he should try to refrain from doing so.
okay, then. he might not be able to directly comment and tell the world who he is and how all of this is making him feel, but he can show them. so he uploads the video of him singing, the thing he loves most in the world, and he expresses himself through that original song. but that doesnāt work either, and wille tells that simon shouldnāt be posting those things on social media because they can easily be misinterpreted and cause harmful speculations and media attention. and to make things worse, thereās a whole new barrage of hate comments, this time leaning into more sinister territory.
but simon is not going to give up so easilyā even if tons of people online are telling him that heās a golddigger and pathetic and chasing fame, he knows that those arenāt his intentions. heās with wille because he loves him, and heās not looking for fame or wealth out of it. and all simon wants out of life is to make some positive change in the world. so of course he canāt help himself when he adds himself to the post of the picture he took with the younger boy who looks up to him. heās hopeful and a little giddy about it all, because he is making a change. he is helping and inspiring others. he wants to share that with others.
and then simon goes home to find that an anonymous stranger has thrown a rock through his window, into his house.
simon loves his family dearly. he would do anything for them. and someone he likely doesnāt even know hated him enough to threaten his familyās safety, his motherās safety, by finding his house and breaking the window with the rock. being harassed on social media and in person by reporters fucking sucks, but in simonās mind, at least thatās only affecting him. but this? this is too far. this is his family, and theyāre unintentional targets now, too. they arenāt even safe in their own home anymore, where theyāve lived in the last fourteen years.
so when jan olof and farima come by and tell simon to delete his social media accounts for his own safetyā not temporarily deactivate, not make private, specifically deleteā simon does it. because private accounts and deactivations are workarounds, and to simon, workarounds have only made things worse. itās not just him on the line anymore, itās his family and safety and his relationship with wille altogether, so he does exactly what the royal court says and deletes his accounts. workarounds just arenāt worth it.
okay, but why is deleting his instagram account such a big deal? he can always make a new one, so why does it matter?
one of the first times that we get a deeper look into who simon is, not coincidentally, through the contents of his instagram account! when wille is lurking on simonās profile, we get a solid introduction into the key aspects and people in simonās life. he he has two best friends who he adores, he loves his sister and his mother, and even his bio says āmusic makes my world go roundā.
but looking past that aspect for now, we also get to see who simon is outside of social media and these close relationships: heās very outspoken, doesnāt let others silence him (even in his very first scene, he sings louder when vincent makes fun of him), is unafraid to call others out on their bullshit and has strong values that heās quick to share.
but throughout season three, as simon is faced with more and more pressure and cruelty on behalf of the public and royal court, he starts losing himself. he finds that singing isnāt as enjoyable anymore, he becomes quieter and quieter. he initially fights back when he feels that the royal court is being unreasonable, like when he was first told by wille about being careful on social media, but eventually just reaches a point where he stops and just takes it. he ends up going against his own values just for the sake of not fighting with wille during the sit-in, despite clearly being bothered by it. and of course, this isnāt helped by the fact that heās not on speaking terms with sara again until much later and his relationship with his mom is strained until mid-season, so a integral part of his support system isnāt able to help him until he was a little too deep into all this.
so looking back at the social media aspect, simon deleting his instagram accounts is the nail in the coffin. he publicly displays his unabashed love for his family, friends, and music through his posts, all of which are essential to his sense of self and who he is as a person, and we see him literally delete it all. this drives home the point that simon is deleting himself, and marks one of his lowest points in terms of losing and changing himself to try and fit into a space that will never be made for someone like him. square peg in a circular hole.
so yes, realistically, simon deleting instagram is a sad thing to see, although not necessarily earth-shattering. but metaphorically? itās everything.
why were there only hate comments? sweden is very progressive in terms of queer rights and social acceptance, so it couldnāt have been that bad.
of course, i canāt speak for lisa and the rest of the team, but i feel that this was an intentional detail. because the truth is, there probably werenāt only hate comments! we even see the initial response after simon posts the clip of him singing, and itās positive.
but as an overall society, we tend to take criticism harder than we do compliments. you likely donāt remember that one time last week where a stranger complimented your hair or outfit or handwriting, whatever it may be, but you probably do remember the last time someone told you that your efforts werenāt enough. you probably remember the last time you got a bad review or a bad grade on something you tried hard on, or when someone made fun of your interests. and speaking as a teenager, i can confirm that this is a huge thing to us as wellā we want to be accepted and complimented, we want to be wanted, and when we arenāt, it feels like itās the end of the world.
so of course simon would take all those disgusting comments to heart. anyone would, especially when they havenāt had any time to prepare for it. so as more and more hate comments roll in, itās harder to pay attention to the positivity that may also be there. from simonās point of view, the hate is everywhere and too much to ignore, so thatās what we get to see. we see criticism and threats and people being mean, because those are the responses and the view that affect simon the most.
tldr; simon deleted his instagram because he felt that using another workaround in deactivation/private acc would be a risk, itās a big deal because by literally deleting his social media the writers show that simon is deleting himself, and thereās mostly hate comments because through simonās pov those are the ones that are the most impactful.
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